John Van’t Schip: I will not resign from Chivas

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By Brent Latham

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Oct 26, 2012 11:57:00 AM

Despite his team's exit from the CONCACAF Champions League, the coach says he will remain with the Mexican club.

John Van’t Schip is not going anywhere.

After seeing his squad eliminated from the CONCACAF Champions League by Guatemalan upstart Xelaju on Thursday night, the Chivas coach deflected questions about his possible resignation, saying that the team is on the right course.

“I won’t think about resigning,” the coach told reporters after the match. “Because right now we’re moving forward with the things we’re doing. Resign isn’t a word that right now I feel I should say.”

The embarrassing elimination from the region’s most important club tournament couldn’t have come at a worse time for the storied Guadalajara club, struggling in the local tournament, and with Technical Advisor Johan Cruyff looking on in confused frustration from a luxury box at Estadio Omnilife.

“It’s shameful, there are no words for it,” said captain Hector Reynoso. “This result is bad for the team, the prestige of the club, and every one of the players.”

Cruyff, hired as a part-time advisor by Chivas owner Jorge Vergara, has come to Guadalajara to supervise the progress of the plan he put in place over the summer to bring Chivas back to the top of Mexican and regional football.

The Dutchman stirred up controversy before the match by telling Chivas’ website that the last 40 years of the club’s history has been somewhat less grandiose than club supporters and administrators might like to think.

With only three matches left in the Mexican Apertura, the team is in 12th place, in danger of missing La Liguilla for the second straight tournament. Chivas hosts Atlas this weekend before closing against Gallos Blancos and Club Tijuana.